Another Volvo prime mover for RJT Excavations Ltd

13/12/2017
By Mark Gunns

RJT Excavations Ltd of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders has opted for another Volvo excavator specifically for a long term crushing contract, based on the overall total cost of ownership for its plant fleet.

This most recent addition to RJT Excavations’ fleet comes in the guise of a forty-tonne Volvo EC380E equipped with mass excavation rig including a 2.6 metre dipper arm, a Hills hydraulic attachment bracket and a heavy duty 72” wide, 2.5m³ bucket supplied by MST. The machine replaces an EC380D which had clocked up 10,000 relatively trouble-free hours and follows the company’s purchase of the larger 50-tonne Volvo EC480E excavator rigged for mass excavation and an L180H loading shovel complete with a 4.6m³ rehandling bucket which were purchased one year ago. “We have a long association with Volvo Construction Equipment products and are currently operating excavators from fourteen to fifty tonnes and A30 articulated haulers,” says RJT’s Assistant Plant Manager, Euan Heard. “Due to the high number of hours our EC380D had worked, it was time to find a replacement and after analysing the total cost of ownership over a set period, coupled to our past experiences operating Volvo machines, the package on offer was too good to overlook,” he continues. “Our operators certainly appreciate the level of comfort in the cab along with the HMI (Human-Machine-Interface) on the E-model and the machine has been significantly ‘beefed’ up in the undercarriage department and overall, it looks aesthetically pleasing.”

The EC380E is powered by a Stage-IV compliant engine developing 306 net horsepower offering the latest in engine technology and operating sophistication. The Volvo Care Cab offers a large roomy interior with plenty of leg room and foot space. The excellent all round visibility is enhanced by pressurized and filtered cab air supplied by a 14-vent, climate control system. An adjustable easy to read LCD colour monitor provides ‘real time’ information of the machine functions, important diagnostic information and a wide variety of work tool settings besides providing visibility to the operator from the rear and side view cameras. The EC380E offers plenty of reach and dig depth (11m and 7.3m respectively) and a massive breakout force of 215kN.

The new excavator has been supplied with an enhanced driveline warranty covering the next 5 years or 10,000 hours coupled with a flexible Volvo Service support agreement. “We certainly appreciate the after-market support we receive from SMT GB’s support centre at Stirling together with their flexible arrangements for providing the right type of service agreement to suit our needs,” says Euan. “This means we can take full advantage of the support from Volvo’s dealer and keep our team of workshop and mobile engineers fully engaged at the same time.”

The new EC380E has gone to work on a long-term crushing project for a major aggregate producer in Scotland’s central belt and has been deployed feeding a mobile crusher as part of one of RJT’s contract crushing teams. The machine will also be used in overburden stripping when required.

Formed in 1989 as an earthworks and general groundwork’s contractor based at Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, RJT Excavations Limited (RJT) has grown significantly to be at the forefront in offering specialised plant and equipment, bulk earthworks, groundwork’s, stabilisation, remediation, contract crushing, plant for civil engineering projects and other plant orientated activities covering the whole of the UK.

SMT GB markets Volvo Construction Equipment products which include wheeled loaders, articulated haulers, hydraulic excavators, Volvo utility equipment and Volvo road equipment products in Great Britain. There are eight strategically placed customer support centres, a dedicated National Used Equipment Centre and a network of utility equipment dealers to ensure high quality customer support is maintained throughout the country.